


Bird magic

by ShortcakeCrow



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, Supernatural Elements, bird Tsukki, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-08 04:09:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4290294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShortcakeCrow/pseuds/ShortcakeCrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yamaguchi stumbles upon a crow with blond hair and glasses. With Tsukishima nowhere to be found, he has no choice but to accept it: Tsukki has turned into a bird.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tsukishima's misfortune

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I found this really cute fanart of crow!Tsukki and Yamaguchi, and I really wanted to write something for it: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/66/d7/f1/66d7f1cf277873968d07ccd2232c8cc6.jpg  
> Btw, I've only seen the anime, so I won't include manga only characters.

The crow with blond hair and glasses looked fairly out of place. Yamaguchi even mistook it for a plushie when he glanced at it from afar for the first time. But plushies don’t fly at you at abnormal speed, don’t land on your shoulders in the clumsiest way possible - it must have been a pretty young birdie, as it was still having some trouble keeping its balance -, and don’t start cawing in a fast paced, clearly upset way.

Now, Yamaguchi wasn’t scared of crows, but he was pretty sure something like this would have easily scared the pants off of anyone, except for maybe Tsukishima - Yamaguchi couldn’t imagine the taller boy getting startled at all. It just seemed so unlike him. Speaking of Tsukki, where was he? They always walked to school together, with Tsukki listening to music, and Yamaguchi following closely behind, talking to him in a carefree manner, since he was sure Tsukki wouldn’t just ignore him, and would keep the volume low enough for him to hear everything the other was saying. But today he was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t like Tsukki to be late. Maybe he overslept?

Yamaguchi looked at the bird perched atop his shoulders. The only reason he hasn’t ran away in terror yet was that it startled him so much that he froze up, unable to react in any way, much less run for his life. But to his relief, the crow wasn’t going to murder him just yet, and was instead staring at him with his head cocked slightly to the side, his attempts of trying to communicate through bird noises coming to a halt. Seeing the crow so still and motionless made Yamaguchi feel weirdly calm himself.

Being able to examine the crow further, it was looking more and more familiar. Although Yamaguchi was sure he’d never seen it before. After some more awkward eye contact - was that even possible to do with a crow? -, he concluded that the bird resembled someone he knew very closely - even those glasses looked like they belonged to that person. Yamaguchi’s eyes widened at the realization, and he slowly opened his mouth, still unsure - but he had to try, he had to make sure -, and spoke hesitantly.

“Tsukki…?”

The crow confirmed his theory with a nod. Yamaguchi went silent again, his brain slowly processing what was happening. Tsukki is a bird. Tsukki turned into a bird, somehow and is sitting on his shoulder at the moment, gazing at him in his typical, adorable Tsukki way. Yamaguchi took a deep breath. He knew Tsukki wouldn’t appreciate him flooding him with questions, so he had to act calm and composed, even if that seemed impossible in a situation like this. He cleared his throat, determined that he was going to handle this like Tsukki would, and not freak out like he usually does, but he was Yamaguchi and not Tsukishima, and as soon as he spoke the first word, the rest came tumbling after.

“You’re so small, Tsukki! Well, smaller than you usually are, not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just very weird, you know? In a way, it’s kind of cute. Wait, what am I thinking, this isn’t good! Tsukki, why are you a crow, what happened, and why do you still have your glasses? Maybe I should-“  
His nervous trail of words was interrupted by Tsukishima letting out a 'caw' that sounded oddly similar to “Shut up, Yamaguchi”. Yamaguchi chuckled, embarrassed. There goes his plan of impressing Tsukki.

“Sorry, Tsukki.”

Yamaguchi knew he wasn’t going to get anything out of Tsukki, as he clearly was unable to talk, so he did the only logical thing he could think of: took Tsukki with him to school.

\----------

This was a horrible idea. At least Tsukki seemed to think so, sitting inside Yamaguchi’s bag, sulking. It was lunchtime in a couple of minutes, and he’d already almost gotten squished multiple times by unsuspecting students coming and going between desks, nearly stepping on his hiding place had it not been for Yamaguchi interrupting the action either by screaming at the top of his lungs, throwing himself on top of the bag and protecting it that way, or both at the same time. The rest of the class seemed to think he was going mental because of Tsukishima’s absence, as they’d never seen him so upset over a bunch of text- and notebooks. Well, and Tsukki as a crow, but they didn’t know that.

During lunch break Yamaguchi fed Tsukki some of his own food - a bit of hard-boiled egg, and a few smaller pieces of fruit -, so that Tsukki wouldn’t have to go hungry until he bought him some bird food. He wasn’t even sure what crows could eat, but he’d figure something out. While munching on his own portion, he watched curiously as Tsukki consumed his own, eating in his own, leisure pace. He had to admit, Tsukki was very adorable as a bird. Not that he normally wasn’t, but there was just something about the tiny crow that made Yamaguchi want to squeeze him to his chest, hugging him tightly forever. Tsukki glanced at him, suspicious of his constant staring, and Yamaguchi laughed nervously.  
“Sorry, Tsukki.”

\-----------

He decided to bring him to practice. He figured Tsukki would be lonely if he left him alone, plus there was a chance the others could help turn him back somehow. A very small chance, but it was still there, and there was no way Yamaguchi wasn’t gonna take it. So he took Tsukki out of his bag, and Tsukki took his place on his shoulder, fixing his disheveled feathers. Yamaguchi opened the door to the gym, peaking in nervously. He was greeted by a ball slamming into the wall just an inch away from his face, from Hinata, who was practicing his receives with Kageyama. Hinata shouted an apology, rushing after the ball, and stopping dead in his tracks when he noticed the crow. His eyes widened in surprise, and he pointed at the bird.

“Uwaah, Yamaguchi’s got a crow!”

The gym went quiet. Yamaguchi found himself surrounded by his teammates all of a sudden, and took a couple of steps back, shielding Tsukki from the small crowd.

“Wow, it’s true!”

“It looks pretty weird though…”

“Why does the crow have glasses?”

Tanaka and Nishinoya began howling with laughter.

“It’s like a mini Tsukishima!” Tanaka exclaimed, Noya nodding his head at a rapid speed. Everyone aside from Kageyama smiled or chuckled at that - Kageyama just knitted his eyebrows in confusion, scowling, as usual.

“You aren’t allowed to bring pets in, Yamaguchi” Daichi stated, though he couldn’t help but smile at the cute sight as well.

“And where’s Tsukishima? Aren’t you guys always together?” asked Hinata. Yamaguchi rubbed the back of his head.

“Uhm, about that…”

\----------

Yamaguchi tried his best to explain everything, but it was hard to focus with a tiny crow Tsukki glaring daggers at everybody else, scooting closer to Yamaguchi’s neck and away from Hinata’s curiously poking fingers. Everyone took the news differently. Hinata was jumping up and down excitedly during the explanation, interrupting Yamaguchi all the time to ask a - more than likely - silly and unnecessary question, and kept trying to pet the bird, which ended up with Tsukki almost biting him. Kageyama stared silently, frowning. Ennoshita, Narita and Kinoshita were muttering among themselves, probably making up their own theories - or something along those lines anyway. Tanaka and Noya have stopped laughing, but they were obviously entertained by the idea of the always cynical and cold Tsukishima being stuck in his current form. Asahi, Suga and Daichi were the only ones who appeared to be actually concerned, which Yamaguchi was very grateful for.

It took him 10 minutes to convince them that yes, the crow was indeed Tsukki, and no, it wasn’t just a random bird with dyed feathers and a pair of small glasses - although that sounded incredibly cute as well. Yamaguchi decided he’d buy a Tsukki-crow plushie sometime.

It took another hour for the third years to interrogate him, while the rest of the volleyball team was either working on a solution, or laughing at Tsukishima’s misery. Kiyoko, Takeda-sensei and coach Ukai had arrived as well, about 5 minutes in the explanation: Kiyoko was now searching tips on how to take care of crows together with Takeda-sensei, while Ukai was chasing Tanaka and Noya around, giving them a lecture about ridiculing others - which they ignored.

By the time practice ended, they agreed that Yamaguchi should be the one to take Tsukishima home. Kiyoko gave him a long list of useful tips, and Suga patted him on the back, reassuring him that they’d find a way to turn Tsukki back. Yamaguchi was reluctant to just leave it at that, but he had to admit that it was very unlikely that they’d find a solution right now, so he agreed to go home for the day. On his way to the entrance, he patted Tsukki’s head, giving an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, Tsukki.”


	2. The murder of crows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is a flock of crows called a murder? Seriously, that's creepy as hell.

Yamaguchi didn’t mind waking up early, especially if he had to because of Tsukki. Whether the taller blond was heading to school and Yamaguchi had 5 minutes to get ready and catch up to him before Tsukki would inevitably get annoyed with him for being late, or whether Tsukki forgot something at his place - a jacket, a textbook, sometimes even his headphones - and invited himself in the next morning, fetching said item just in case Yamaguchi has forgotten about it, Yamaguchi himself never felt bothered by it.

This morning wasn’t different in that way. Yamaguchi was woken up not by the deafening sound of his alarm clock but by the sensation of something sharp on his skin. He groaned sleepily, stretching out a bit, cracking an eye open - and barely avoiding letting out a bloodcurdling scream right after, when he saw the crow resting on his chest. He pushed himself into a sitting position immediately, hitting his head on the bottom of his desk as a result. He grabbed his head, massaging at the bump, the ringing of his ears making him unaware of the upset ‘caws’ the bird was directing at him, after falling onto his lap.

Then it clicked. Yamaguchi’s shoulders sank with relief, though the aftereffects of his sudden awakening still lingered in the form of his heart beating like crazy. He let out a shaky sigh.

“Whew, it’s just Tsukki… You almost gave me a heart attack!” he whined. Tsukishima glared at him, his feathers all messed up from the fall. “Sorry, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi added, realising what he’d done to the poor crow. He gently removed his friend from his lap, setting him down on his bedside table, next to a plate of strawberries. According to the list Kiyoko gave him crows could eat that, and Yamaguchi figured Tsukki would happily eat them. He was right, though Tsukki did leave a few for the morning. He wasn’t as hungry as Yamaguchi thought, it seemed.

Yamaguchi moved on to completing his morning routine, Tsukki munching on his breakfast in the meantime. He finished everything in record speed, grabbed his bag, and left for school with Tsukki on his shoulder. When they arrived, Tsukki hopped off, and when Yamaguchi turned to give him a questioning look, he returned it with an uncomfortable one. Yamaguchi scratched the back of his head, ignoring the stares of the students passing him by.

“Eh? You wanna wait outside?” Tsukki nodded. Yamaguchi hesitantly nodded. “Alright. Just be careful, okay?”

Unknown to Yamaguchi, the reason for Tsukki’s decision wasn’t just the fact that he’d be bored out of his mind if he accompanied his friend, but also that he didn’t feel like getting squished first thing in the morning by a careless passerby. Besides, he was sure Yamaguchi would get in trouble if they found out he’d brought a ‘pet’ to the school.

So he stayed outside instead, flying around for a bit before settling down on a branch near a window, so he could at least listen in, if nothing else. It was gonna be a long day.

\-----------

It was an agonizingly long wait. Tsukishima didn’t think it was possible to die from boredom before, but now he was seriously considering the possibility. He thought about sleeping until Yamaguchi’s classes were over, but abandoned the idea after witnessing a flock of crows land in the grass under the tree, raiding a forgotten lunchbox. He watched them for a while, having found something to occupy himself with, when one of the birds looked up, locking eyes with him. Tsukishima shuddered. There was definitely something creepy about the way the bird was eyeing him up. His suspicion grew when more and more of the crows turned their attention to him, all staring at him in a weirdly unsettling manner.

Then suddenly, as if on a signal, all of them lunged towards him, flying up into the tree. Tsukishima started, losing his balance and falling off, avoiding the mess off beaks and claws by an inch as he landed on the ground. He quickly got to his feet, taking off as fast as he could, away from the aggressive group of crows. They followed him soon, chasing him all around the school building. Tsukishima panicked, diving into a classroom through an open window on a sudden impulse - which just so happened to be Yamaguchi’s. The crows continued their pursuit, and the classroom erupted into chaos right away.

Yamaguchi’s calls for Tsukki went mostly unnoticed, some students screaming loudly and climbing under their desks, some attempting to fight off the birds with their textbooks, and some escaping through the door into the hallway, probably either getting some help, or just seeking safety. The teacher, unsurprisingly, was cowering in a corner, shielding his head just in case. Students from classrooms nearby peered inside, their lessons interrupted by the emergency. Hinata was gawking at the sight, yelling something along the lines of ‘So cool!’, and ‘Did you see that?’, while Kageyama was wearing his usual scowl, mumbling something about a crow apocalypse.

Unfortunately only one of the windows was open, and the crows flew around blindly at a terrifying speed, smacking against everything and everyone, not finding the exit. Yamaguchi let out a loud squeak when he finally got hold of Tsukki, hugging him to his chest to protect him, on the verge of tears, stuttering out apologies, even though he wasn’t at fault. He felt Tsukki shaking in his arms. He crawled under a desk, petting Tsukki in what he hoped was a reassuring, calming way. This went on until someone had the sense to open the other windows, chasing the birds outside that way. They were gone in a minute or two, leaving the room of scared and confused students - and a traumatized teacher - behind.

Yamaguchi poked his head out, checking to see if he could stand up yet. Tsukki didn’t dare leave the safety of his arms. He was never going near crows again. Ever.

Word spread fast, and by the time volleyball practice started, the whole school was talking about the so-called ‘attack of the crows’. Yamaguchi entered the gym to find an enthusiastic Hinata filling Noya and Tanaka in, clearly proud of the fact that he witnessed the event firsthand. Kageyama was trying to talk over him, correcting certain details that Hinata may or may not has exaggerated a tiny bit.

It took 5 minutes of Takeda-sensei trying to talk some sense into the team, then an enraged shout from coach Ukai for everyone to quiet down and pay attention. Takeda-sensei nervously pushed up his glasses.

“Regarding Tsukishima-kun’s circumstances, I suggest we try another approach. We won’t get anywhere just by guessing blindly.”

Everyone else agreed. Suga proposed an idea as well.

“How about we figure out the reason for it first? I think that would be easier, and we could work out a solution easier that way.”

All heads turned to Yamaguchi.

“What?” he asked awkwardly, uncomfortable by the sudden attention.

“You’re the one who’s always with Tsukishima” Tanaka explained.

“So you’re the best person to ask” Noya added.

“Do you know what Tsukishima was doing before this happened?” Suga asked, giving him an encouraging smile. “Anything you can remember can be helpful.”

Yamaguchi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The last time he saw Tsukki - in his normal, human form, that is - was the day before yesterday, and he was a crow by yesterday morning. Which meant that whatever was the cause of his transformation most likely happened during that time period. If his memory served him right, after they said their byes, Tsukki headed back to the school because he forgot one of his notebooks there.

Yamaguchi shared this new bit of information with the rest, and Daichi suggested that they should split up and ask around if anyone’s seen Tsukishima around that time. More than a few members were disappointed that they wouldn’t get to practice today either, but they were forced to admit that Tsukki’s current predicament was a matter of utmost importance, and they agreed to help search for clues.

This took about half an hour, until Yamaguchi has successfully gotten some sort of lead from a first year.

“Tsukishima? Yeah, he was with another guy. I didn’t recognize him, so I think he’s from a different school. They looked like they were arguing about something, but I wasn’t really paying attention.”

“What did the other guy look like?” asked Yamaguchi, his excitement showing through his voice.

“Uh, he was very tall? About Tsukishima’s height. And he had really weird black hair, kinda like this” the boy demonstrated by messing up his hair so it was sticking up, and brushing his bangs over his right eye. Yamaguchi thanked him quickly, already having an idea of whom his classmate saw Tsukki with - ignoring the weird feeling he got in his gut, because this wasn’t the time to be jealous, Tsukki was a crow. He shook his head to rid it of these thoughts and sprinted back to the gym, ready to share the news with the rest of the volleyball club.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was in the middle of writing this when suddenly I found: “Crows occasionally murder each other for reasons that mystify scientists.” And then my hand slipped. Please hide Tsukki from me before I accidentally murder him. Thank you.  
> Ps.: I have no idea where I’m going with this plot. Derp.


	3. The bedhead's fault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo is smirking. Ennoshita is smirking. Everybody is smirking. I love the word ‘smirk’, as you can tell.  
> It’s past midnight and I now realize that I spent the whole day watching Yowapeda and writing about a nerd turning into a crow and his ahoge-d no homo best friend panicking over it. What is my life.

Yamaguchi paced up and down impatiently in the gym. Almost the whole team had returned by that point, but Noya and Tanaka were still missing, and Takeda-sensei - along with Suga and Daichi - was dead set on not excluding anyone in the meeting, who already knew about the incident. Fortunately he didn’t have to wait too much: the distant sound of screaming reached his ears, and he turned his head around so fast that his neck almost cracked.

Tanaka and Noya were sprinting towards the group. Or rather, one of them was: Tanaka had lifted Noya up into the air and was now waving him around above his head like some sort of weapon, while Noya stretched his limbs out. They looked intense - but then again, when were they not? Two people seemed to be following them, one of them jogging lightly, the shorter one walking further behind. As they came into view, Yamaguchi’s annoyance at the tardiness of the over-energetic duo was replaced by relief. Hinata’s eyes widened in recognition, and he ran at the two newcomers, grinning widely and waving his hand.

“Kenma!”

Kenma lifted his gaze from the game he was currently playing - god knows how he hasn’t walked into something yet like that.

“Shouyou” Kenma greeted him with a nod, pausing his game for a minute to let Hinata ramble on about several different things at once while jumping around excitedly. His companion, Kuroo, was wearing his usual smirk, leaning against the wall with his arms loosely crossed. Yamaguchi bit his lip to stifle a yelp of pain as Tsukki’s claws suddenly dug deeper into his shoulder, probably unbeknownst to the crow himself. Kuroo’s smirk wavered for a second when his eyes settled on Tsukki, but he composed himself right away. Yamaguchi straightened his back, trying to look as tall and intimidating as possible for once - which really wasn’t working, judging from Kuroo’s amused expression -, and marched up to him, worried and confused looks piercing into his back.

“What did you do to Tsukki?” he asked, gathering up all the confidence he could and maintaining eye contact.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Kuroo said innocently. Yamaguchi persisted.

“You were with Tsukki the day before yesterday after practice. Someone saw you with him.”

Kuroo was visibly sweating. Kenma glanced at him, narrowing his eyes in a disapproving manner.

“Kenma, help me out here!” Kuroo whined, giving him a pleading look. Kenma sighed.

“If this is about the crow, we can explain” he stated calmly.

“Kenma!” betrayal was written on Kuroo’s face. He was clearly upset about his best friend giving in so easily.

“Were you planning on leaving him like that?” Kuroo didn’t reply, but his answer was obvious. Kenma refrained from commenting on it, and turned back to Yamaguchi. “Could we talk in private?”

Hinata looked like a sad puppy, disheartened by Kenma’s request.

“Eh? Is it something you can’t tell us about?”

Kuroo placed his hands on Hinata’s shoulders, looking him in the eye with a serious face.

“Trust Kenma on this one, you don’t want to know. It’s a huge secret, and you’ll be in danger if he tells you about it. The king of Japan will try to hunt you down and silence you. Do you understand?” he said in a hushed voice. Hinata was listening intensely, and nodded nervously to answer his question. Kuroo’s smirk returned, and he ruffled Hinata’s hair. “Good.”

Yamaguchi stared with his mouth slightly open at the sight. He thought Kuroo’s trembling shoulders and voice shaking with held back laughter would have given it away to anyone that Kuroo was only messing with him, but apparently the orange-haired spiker was gullible enough to believe him. Kenma gestured to Yamaguchi, and headed towards the main building.

“Have fun!” Kuroo waved, grinning.

“You’re coming too, Kuro” Kenma replied. Kuro chuckled.

“Figures.”

They settled next to the main building, far enough from the entrance that casual passerby’s wouldn’t be able to listen. Kuroo placed his hands in his pockets, and opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately interrupted by Tsukki charging at him at top speed. As the two of them proceeded to wage war against each other, Kenma sat down on a bench, clearing his throat, and getting to the explanation.

Meanwhile, Hinata and Kageyama were at each other’s throats again, wrestling on the ground.

“He was obviously lying, dumbass! Japan doesn’t have a king!”

“Yes it does, stupid Kageyama!”

“No it doesn’t! Japan has a queen!”

Tanaka snorted.

“Where did you hear that, Kageyama? Japan is a democratic republic!”

While the three of them - and soon afterwards, Noya, who stubbornly took Tanaka’s side, defending his bro at all costs - argued, raising their voices more and more, everyone else stared at them, dumbfounded.

“Should we explain…?” Suga’s question was met with an uncomfortable silence.

“It’s really impressive, in a way” Asahi mused.

Ennoshita coughed, grabbing their attention, then covered his mouth with a hand and smirked.

“Well, would you look at that? The wild idiots are rampaging in their natural habitat. How pathetic” and he did a motion with his hand, as though he was pushing up a pair of glasses. “That’s what Tsukishima would say” he added, back to his normal self once more. Kinoshita and Narita snickered.

\-----------

“Wait, what? You can use magic!?” Yamaguchi exclaimed, but quickly realized his mistake and lowered his voice. “Seriously?”

Kenma nodded. Kuroo, fighting Tsukki off with one hand, laughed.

“Hard to believe, huh?” Kuroo said.

“W-well, after Tsukki turning into a bird... I should have probably expected something like this” Yamaguchi said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Did you do this to Tsukki?”

Kenma nodded again.

“It was Kuro’s fault” he said.

“No it wasn’t!” Kuroo protested. Kenma stared at him. “Okay, maybe a little. But still!”

Yamaguchi listened with a blank expression, slowly processing what he’d just been told. Apparently Hinata had invited Kenma over for the weekend, but Kuroo didn’t let him go alone, and had the brilliant idea of somehow convincing Tsukishima to let them stay over, and surprise Hinata today. Of course, Tsukki was having none of it. Their argument got so out of hand that Kenma had actually gotten upset for a moment, and accidentally turned them both into animals. He turned Kuroo back right away, but Tsukki slipped away before he could do anything.

While Kenma was talking, Tsukki returned to Yamaguchi’s shoulder, having accomplished his revenge on the Nekoma captain.

“Can you turn him back?” Yamaguchi asked, nervously glancing Tsukki.

“Yeah. Put him down, though.”

Yamaguchi gently placed Tsukki on a patch of grass. Kenma crouched down, staring at the crow with his brows slightly furrowed. Suddenly the bird was hidden in a cloud of white smoke, and sure enough, Tsukki emerged out of it. Fully naked. Yamaguchi shrieked in surprise, almost falling on his butt while a deep red blush covered his freckled cheeks. He was not ready for this.

“Nice ass, Glasses” Kuroo whistled. That was his last mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo died that day.


End file.
